CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #13

[Karinna]

Placing one of the defendants children on the witness stand to testify for their parent could backfire on them with the Jury IMO.

 

[Mony Mony]

What's the point of Rodriguez showing the picture of CM in a hole on the desert he had dug? I know it looks dramatic and some are excited to see it. But how does that support the charge? It's his job, wasn't it? Showing that picture adds nothing to the evidence. Say a family of 5 were found murdered with a knife, will thousands of chefs who appear in pictures holding butcher's knife be suspected of the crime?

Yes. If the victims were expertly carved and the chef claimed he didn't have the knowledge/strength to do it...yes, it would be relevant. If the victims died in a fiery car crash due to failed brakes, it would be irrelevant.

 

[cobalt sky]

It appears Taylor didn't claim that she saw the call on the evening of 2/4 come in herself. This is why it is so important to actually listen to the full testimony before coming to conclusions (I have not listened yet). While the reporter today did an ok job, we only got bits and pieces. Here is a tweet from another reporter:

@RKDeAtley Now being cross-examined by Deputy District Attorney Melissa Rodriguez. Says she did not "physically" see the call come in from McStay, just remembered it was the content of the argument between her mom and dad about not picking up the call.

As for the call, maybe I have it wrong, but I thought that the call from Joey to Chase on the evening of 2/4 did show up on Joey's phone bill but apparently did not show up on Chase's phone bill. But a call clearly occurred, otherwise it wouldn't have shown up on Joey's bill. As for what happened with the call on Chase's end, just because it didn't show up on his bill doesn't mean the call didn't occur like a normal call, where he would hear a ring and see the call info on the face of his phone before the person (Joey) hung up or let it go to VM. Weren't we waiting for one of the witnesses to look into this a little more with the actual carrier?

 

[missy1974]

My question on the "missed phone call" is - if the call came in as CM said way back (apparently via CJ's memory), and CJ still says, and she and daughter saw the call and he didn't want to answer it so it just rang - wouldn't it have gone to voice mail?

How does a call come in, rings and no one answers, and it doesn't show up on the cell record and no voice mail is left? According to the Merritts, JM called, it rang and rang so he just gave up and hung up with zero record the call took place except on JM's cell record? That seems to be a difficult one to slide past the jury.

BBM - not necessarily... I call my mom all the time, I know after a certain amount of rings the machine will answer, so I will just hang up, knowing she will see my number called on her phone and she will call me back. It annoys the heck outta me that I have some family members that will still leave a VM on our home phone knowing full well that I probably won't listen to it before I call them back LOL

I guess the easiest way to think of it is ... your VM is set to pick up after 6 rings.... on the 5th ring, the caller hangs up, it doesn't still go to VM then. It WILL still be logged on the phone if it had call display though, or should be. What I am questioning is if that unanswered (by self or VM) call shows on the call detail record.

 

[travelbug]

Who on earth, would argue for a weekend about an unanswered call from someone you normally speak to up to 15 times a day?
That's preposterous and just plain silly and unbelievable.
First of all. February 10, 2010 was a Thursday.
So they argued Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday over Chase not answering a call from Joey?
Don't think so. Did they argue? Probably. But about much much more then any missed call from Joey.
I'd say that they argued about Chase having his phone turned off.
Because he was quite busy, murdering, covering up and then burying the entire family in the dessert.

My deceased spouse was VERY controlling. I'm passive (unless I'm in Momma Bear mode like Summer). An argument in our home never seemed to end. When we went for counseling it was called "sand bagging". A control freak makes note of everything that p*sses them off and when any argument (about anything) starts they start running down "their list". I can see CM being that type. I'm thinking that CJ was upset about CM ignoring calls and mentioned it to him and a small disagreement ensued. Then the next day CJ started worrying about Joey and continued to remind CM that he should have answered that call because maybe it was an emergency. After 4 or 5 reminders it turned into a full blown argument and escalated to include CM not answering her calls. That would set CM off and it doesn't surprise me that the children would remember because neither parent would back down from their position and as tempers flared it's a frightening episode for the kids. The longer they didn't hear back from Joey the more the worry and anger would grow. imho

 

[Karinna]

It appears Taylor didn't claim that she saw the call on the evening of 2/4 come in herself. This is why it is so important to actually listen to the full testimony before coming to conclusions (I have not listened yet). While the reporter today did an ok job, we only got bits and pieces. Here is a tweet from another reporter:

@RKDeAtley Now being cross-examined by Deputy District Attorney Melissa Rodriguez. Says she did not "physically" see the call come in from McStay, just remembered it was the content of the argument between her mom and dad about not picking up the call.

As for the call, maybe I have it wrong, but I thought that the call from Joey to Chase on the evening of 2/4 did show up on Joey's phone bill but apparently did not show up on Chase's phone bill. But a call clearly occurred, otherwise it wouldn't have shown up on Joey's bill. As for what happened with the call on Chase's end, just because it didn't show up on his bill doesn't mean the call didn't occur like a normal call, where he would hear a ring and see the call info on the face of his phone before the person (Joey) hung up or let it go to VM. Weren't we waiting for one of the witnesses to look into this a little more with the actual carrier?

BBM, So if she didn't witness the incoming call who did? CJ?
Is it possible that CM had Joseph's phone and placed that call himself? Weren't JM & SM's phones missing? Didn't CM claim to be in the bathroom or wherever when the call came in?

 

[Mony Mony]

My question on the "missed phone call" is - if the call came in as CM said way back (apparently via CJ's memory), and CJ still says, and she and daughter saw the call and he didn't want to answer it so it just rang - wouldn't it have gone to voice mail?

How does a call come in, rings and no one answers, and it doesn't show up on the cell record and no voice mail is left? According to the Merritts, JM called, it rang and rang so he just gave up and hung up with zero record the call took place except on JM's cell record? That seems to be a difficult one to slide past the jury.

Excellent point! If it was ignored, it should have gone to VM

 

[missy1974]

It appears Taylor didn't claim that she saw the call on the evening of 2/4 come in herself. This is why it is so important to actually listen to the full testimony before coming to conclusions (I have not listened yet). While the reporter today did an ok job, we only got bits and pieces. Here is a tweet from another reporter:

@RKDeAtley Now being cross-examined by Deputy District Attorney Melissa Rodriguez. Says she did not "physically" see the call come in from McStay, just remembered it was the content of the argument between her mom and dad about not picking up the call.

As for the call, maybe I have it wrong, but I thought that the call from Joey to Chase on the evening of 2/4 did show up on Joey's phone bill but apparently did not show up on Chase's phone bill. But a call clearly occurred, otherwise it wouldn't have shown up on Joey's bill. As for what happened with the call on Chase's end, just because it didn't show up on his bill doesn't mean the call didn't occur like a normal call, where he would hear a ring and see the call info on the face of his phone before the person (Joey) hung up or let it go to VM. Weren't we waiting for one of the witnesses to look into this a little more with the actual carrier?

oh wow, thanks @cobalt sky for sharing that! Of course L&C is missing Part 1 of the testimony, which is what where that part would be. I have already read/heard some discrepancies between the tweets and what I heard in Part 2, so will have to wait until I hear it all before making a judgement.

As for the call not showing... a quick google search, that I wish I had done earlier, tells me what I need to know about the call record for now... I will wait for an "expert" though

Boles said he would like to "confer with AT&T" after he was shown all the VM calls from McGee... they have not recalled him though, which is a shame, considering they had other witnesses do things overnight (the accountant in regards to transactions) or over the weekend (Shroeder in regards to the printer spool).

 

[JMarsh]

Placing one of the defendants children on the witness stand to testify for their parent could backfire on them with the Jury IMO.

Taylor impressed the hell out of me. Thought she was authentic and, as it happens, smart.

 

[Mony Mony]

My question on the "missed phone call" is - if the call came in as CM said way back (apparently via CJ's memory), and CJ still says, and she and daughter saw the call and he didn't want to answer it so it just rang - wouldn't it have gone to voice mail?

How does a call come in, rings and no one answers, and it doesn't show up on the cell record and no voice mail is left? According to the Merritts, JM called, it rang and rang so he just gave up and hung up with zero record the call took place except on JM's cell record? That seems to be a difficult one to slide past the jury.

Excellent point! If it was ignored, it should have gone to VM

 

[Karinna]

My deceased spouse was VERY controlling. I'm passive (unless I'm in Momma Bear mode like Summer). An argument in our home never seemed to end. When we went for counseling it was called "sand bagging". A control freak makes note of everything that p*sses them off and when any argument (about anything) starts they start running down "their list". I can see CM being that type. I'm thinking that CJ was upset about CM ignoring calls and mentioned it to him and a small disagreement ensued. Then the next day CJ started worrying about Joey and continued to remind CM that he should have answered that call because maybe it was an emergency. After 4 or 5 reminders it turned into a full blown argument and escalated to include CM not answering her calls. That would set CM off and it doesn't surprise me that the children would remember because neither parent would back down from their position and as tempers flared it's a frightening episode for the kids. The longer they didn't hear back from Joey the more the worry and anger would grow. imho

But there hasn't been any testimony to that effect has there, by either CJ or CM?

 

[missy1974]

BBM, So if she didn't witness the incoming call who did? CJ?
Is it possible that CM had Joseph's phone and placed that call himself? Weren't JM & SM's phones missing? Didn't CM claim to be in the bathroom or wherever when the call came in?

Joey's call hit the tower near his home at that time.

 

[JMarsh]

What's the point of Rodriguez showing the picture of CM in a hole on the desert he had dug? I know it looks dramatic and some are excited to see it. But how does that support the charge? It's his job, wasn't it? Showing that picture adds nothing to the evidence. Say a family of 5 were found murdered with a knife, will thousands of chefs who appear in pictures holding butcher's knife be suspected of the crime?

Agree. But in fairness to the DA, what else does he have? Not one item of evidence presented at prelim is sticking. By the way, where is Daugherty these days?

 

[Karinna]

Taylor impressed the hell out of me. Thought she was authentic and, as it happens, smart.

We don't know though how the jury will interpret her testimony?

 

[missy1974]

Excellent point! If it was ignored, it should have gone to VM

Unless the person calling hung up before it connected to VM...

am I the only that does this? LOL People that I call frequently, I know how many rings it is before VM picks up... those same people, I don't always leave a VM unless it's super important.

 

[JMarsh]

I don't blame you, the coverage is the worst i have seen for a high profile murder case IMO.

I've followed plenty of cases where all there was were tweets. California is not known for allowing cameras. Name one other high profile case in California, recently, where this type of long-term camera coverage was allowed. Recently. OJ doesn't count.

 

[Karinna]

Joey's call hit the tower near his home at that time.

But some people are refuting phone ping and phone call evidence aren't they?

 

[JMarsh]

We don't know though how the jury will interpret her testimony?

Of course not.

 

[cobalt sky]

BBM, So if she didn't witness the incoming call who did? CJ?
Is it possible that CM had Joseph's phone and placed that call himself? Weren't JM & SM's phones missing? Didn't CM claim to be in the bathroom or wherever when the call came in?

We are still waiting to hear directly from CJ what happened that evening. Yes imo if Chase is guilty it is possible that he was the one that made the call on Joey's phone, though I don't know that it could ever be proven. IMO.

 

[missy1974]

I've followed plenty of cases where all there was were tweets. California is not known for allowing cameras. Name one other high profile case in California, recently, where this type of long-term camera coverage was allowed. Recently. OJ doesn't count.

I'm not sure I would consider this "high-profile"... it is to us , but it seems even the local media rarely has articles about it. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough since I am able to listen to it myself though.